


Advent Calendar

by impravidus



Series: 12 Days of Winter Whumperland 2020 [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Banter, Christmas, Christmas Presents, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Precious Peter Parker, Winter Whumperland 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28243332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impravidus/pseuds/impravidus
Summary: “What about, like, a mug?”Peter stared at him incredulously. “A mug?”Ned shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be a generic mug. You can, like, make it custom or something.”Peter sighed exasperatedly. “This isn’t elementary school, Ned. I can’t just draw him a picture and slap it onto a mug and call it a day.”“Well, I don’t know man, those are pretty endearing. You could even make some plates or something.”“I’m not making him plates!”
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: 12 Days of Winter Whumperland 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056323
Comments: 15
Kudos: 114





	Advent Calendar

“What about, like, a mug?”

Peter stared at him incredulously. “A  _ mug? _ ”

Ned shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be a generic mug. You can, like, make it custom or something.”

Peter sighed exasperatedly. “This isn’t elementary school, Ned. I can’t just draw him a picture and slap it onto a mug and call it a day.”

“Well, I don’t know man, those are pretty endearing. You could even make some plates or something.”

“I’m not making him plates!” Peter covered his face, frazzled. He groaned and collapsed onto the bed. “Besides. I’m not an artist.”

“Your blueprints are always so good though.”

“Because they’re  _ blueprints. _ I can’t just draw a blueprint.”

“Then treat it like a blueprint.”

“I can’t just treat it like a blueprint!” Peter exclaimed. “C’mon, Ned. I’ve procrastinated way too long on getting Mr. Stark a Christmas present and I don’t want to be that lame person who gets him a gift so trash ass that he does that thing where he smiles and says thank you but you can tell, you can just  _ tell _ , that he doesn’t really like it but he’s just being polite because he has to be but he actually hates because I’m the idiot who bought him a candle or something stupid like that–”

“Peter!”

Peter’s head snaps up. “What?”

“Chill. Dude. You’ve got this. You know him better than anyone. You’ll figure it out.”

“And what if I don’t?” Peter asked.

“Then I’ve got your back. Trust me.”

Peter smiled softly. “Thanks, Ned. You’re the best.”

“It’s what I do.”

1

Peter’s first attempt at a gift was actually quite heartfelt and sweet.

Peter had learned how to loom knit when he was in middle school. It had kept his hands busy when he grew restless while sitting still. He mostly mastered hats, the pattern repetitive enough that he didn’t even have to look at his hands when he worked. 

Upgrading to scarves was an adjustment but not a challenge. It was more time consuming and gave him long term projects.

However, there was a road he had not gone down.

Sweaters.

Peter could easily make Mr. Stark a hat or a scarf, but he wasn’t one to wear them. However, when he lounged around after a long lab day, he did slip on a sweater. 

So, Peter got to work.

And by getting to work, that meant trial and trial of absolute failure.

Loom patterns were convoluted at best, designed to mock and torture him the rest of the time. Just when he thought it would make sense, he would get to the edge and it would fall apart.

It had been days of endless loom knitting during class, tens of unraveled attempts, two snapped hooks, and an ever growing frustration when he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to finish it in time.

Back to the drawing board.

2

Peter’s second idea had seemed like an epiphany of genius.

A custom tool kit! That would surely—

Wait.

That idea was quickly extinguished when Peter realized that Tony Stark was not only the richest man alive but also a man with  _ the _ most technologically advanced lab in the world.

Yup. Scrap that idea.

3

Third time’s a charm.

Peter got the cheesiest Iron Man fabric he could find (because as much as Tony rolled his eyes at merch, it made him grin) and sewed it together with the fluffiest sherpa he could afford.

He was actually extremely proud of himself for finishing it so soon. It was well crafted and comfy and he knew that Mr. Stark would love it.

However, a spilled container of unneutralized web fluid had the blanket completely disintegrating, leaving Peter a distressed raccoon watching his cotton candy dissolve in water. 

4

In a panic with his wallet basically emptied out from his last present, Peter was searching for a meaningful but cheap gift.

In what felt like a moment of clarity, he decided to go the smarty-pants route and find him a good book. Ben always loved books for Christmas! It would be perfect.

Unfortunately, any and all the books that Peter would deem worthy for Mr. Stark were written by someone he had public and very vocal beef with.

And then, the final kicker was finding out that Tony wasn’t actually one for reading for leisure. 

So. That was off the table too.

5

Peter was growing more and more frantic. Christmas was coming at a rapid speed and he still had nothing for Mr. Stark.

A strike of inspiration hit when he was scrolling through Tik Tok.

Hot cocoa bombs!

But wait. Mr. Stark didn’t drink hot cocoa.

That’s it! He’ll do his own spin.

Coffee bombs.

The chocolate casings took a few attempts, the first being much too thin, the second being burnt and bumpy. But the third! Those turned out great.

Peter filled them with coffee grounds and sealed them, pride swelling big and bright.

He did it. He made the perfect gift.

Just out of curiosity (and the inability to waste food), he took one of the rejects and plopped it into a mug of hot water.

Now, Peter wasn’t an avid coffee consumer, but even he knew it wasn’t supposed to taste like  _ that. _

Somehow, it was both overwhelming chocolatey despite its aggressive coffee taste and also uncomfortably gritty.

Yeah. He couldn’t give this to Mr. Stark.

So. What was he going to do?

1

Peter collapsed onto Ned’s bed and groaned loudly. 

“What am I gonna do?” Peter wailed dramatically.

“Dude,” Ned said. “I’ve got you.” 

Peter peeks his head up from the pillow. “Huh?”

Ned hands him a bag. “I got you a backup gift for Mr. Stark in case you couldn’t find something.”

Peter’s eyes go wide. “Oh my God. Ned. You… this is amazing. This is… you’re the best. You know that, right? I could never ask for a better friend than you.” He grabs the bag. “What is it?”

“See for yourself.” Ned motions enthusiastically with his hand.

Peter’s jaw dropped. “No.”

“Yes.”

“You… really?” Peter looks at the mug with a goofy grin. “Where did you even get these?”

“May pulled them out for me.”

On the mug was a drawing of a nine year old Peter holding hands with Iron Man. 

“There’s more.”

Peter pulled out a plate with a different picture, this one with him and Tony in a suit and sunglasses. 

Peter’s brows scrunched together. “Do you really think he’ll…”

“He will.” Ned placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and smiled. “Trust me.”

Tony would not admit it, but there were tears shed and bone crushing hugs given.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to GreenPencil, reindeerantlersofdoom, and saladbabie for your help with this fic! You helped immensely!
> 
> If you want to chat, my Tumblr is [official-impravidus](https://official-impravidus.tumblr.com/)


End file.
